Vieux Château Certan - Pomerol 2016

Wine Advocate

100 / 100

par Lisa Perrotti-Brown le 30/11/2018

The 2016 Vieux Château Certan is blended of 85% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon. Deep garnet-purple in color, it leaps from the glass with pristine, vivid notions of candied violets, chocolate-covered cherries, blackberry compote and mulberries with fragrant touches of raspberry leaves, crushed rocks, licorice, cumin seed and yeast extract plus a waft of red roses. Medium to full-bodied and beautifully elegant, the palate builds from a quiet intensity to an incredibly well-sustained aria of crunchy red and black cherries notes plus tons of floral undertones, framed by exquisitely soft yet firm tannins and seamless freshness, finishing very long with lingering mineral and floral sparks. How does this 2016 compare to the also amazing 2015 vintage? Stylistically they are very different, as my notes on each should convey, but beyond this I am struck by the incredible harmony and seamlessness of the 2016 along with its amazing depth and energy this year. Bravo!

Decanter.com

97 / 100

par Jane Anson le 25/10/2018

Wein Wisser

19 / 20

par René Gabriel le 10/05/2017

Bettane & Desseauve

97-98 / 100

par Bettane & Desseauve le 03/05/2017

Accents très subtils de fruits noirs et de poivre de Tanzanie au nez. En bouche, on a un équilibre de la matière, avec une densité harmonieuse qui s’étire avec un juste enrobage. C’est une année où le merlot donne sa force et sa sensualité à l’expression du cru.

Wine Advocate

95-97 / 100

par Neal Martin le 02/05/2017

The 2016 Vieux Chateau Certan is a blend of 85% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon that was picked at 40.50 hectoliters per hectare, in three stages of picking: 3-7, 10-11 and 17-18 October. It has a high IPT of 82 and a pH of 3.77. It has a very refined bouquet with blackberry, briary and morello cherries that are tightly wound at first, but open gradually with aeration. The Merlot is fully in control aromatically; this is not a VCC governed by the Cabernet Franc this year, consistent with the 2016 vintage. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grain tannin. There is plenty of dark berry fruit laced with hints of earl grey and bay leaf, a complex and cerebral Pomerol with a long, precise and (to put it banally) delicious finish. This is another outstanding wine from Alexandre and Guillaume Thienpont.

The Wine Cellar Insider

97-98 / 100

par Jeff Leve le 27/04/2017

Grab fresh flowers, buy truffles, pick a bushel of fresh plums from the market and you get the idea of the aromatics. Full bodied, silky, plush and sensuous, the wine shows freshness coupled with ripe, juicy, fresh, dark fruits and concentration. Even with the concentration and tannins, the wine is a dancer — light on its feet, balanced and fresh-faced. Blending 85% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc and 0.1% Cabernet Sauvignon, this wine reached 14.5% alcohol with a pH of 3.77. Picking took place October 3 to October 18, making this latest harvest in the history of Vieux Chateau Certan. 

Vinous

97-100 / 100

par Antonio Galloni le 26/04/2017

The 2016 Vieux Château Certan is a wine of extraordinary beauty. Rich, seamless and voluptuous in the glass, it exudes sensuality in all of its dimensions. Tasted as a hypothetical blend, the 2016 is less expressive than the separate lots were when I tasted them a few months ago. A rush of dark cherry, inky blue/purplish fruit, crushed rocks, lavender and rose petal infuses the creamy, voluptuous finish. The 2016 manages to be dense and rich, but with no excess weight. It is quite simply a remarkable wine.

matthewjukes.com

19,5 / 20

par Matthew Jukes le 25/04/2017

(85 Merlot, 14 Cabernet Franc, 1 Cabernet Sauvignon) | 70% new oak | 14.5% alc. | 40.5 hl/ha. | 82 IPT Guillaume Thienpont said that 2016 was a Merlot year and only his largest Cabernet Franc plot, planted on clay, worked whereas the other two on gravel didn’t perform and so the fruit went into his second wine. He reported that 25mm rain fell on the 13th September and also that it was a very rare year when you actually needed water before harvest as opposed to the other way around! He also explained that some of the young vine Merlot fell into ‘manageable stress’ levels and these were, once again, sorted out. Three or four days before picking they tagged every single vine with a marker to show pickers which they wanted - 5% of production was rejected straight away. This is a very powerful vintage with more muscle and strength than usual and yet there is some superb freshness and lift which helps it enormously. ‘It was easy to make a massive wine, but we had to make a balanced wine, too’, said Guillaume. The stronger notes do not only come out in the power but also in the intensity of cherry fruit making this an epic wine which is more immedi- ately expressive and urgent than the laid-back Pétrus. It will be one of the most longest lived vintages ever. Guillaume’s father, Jacques Thienpont, said, ‘come back in fifteen years’ for another tasting of this wine at the start of its life! Jacques thought that precision is the reason for his property’s continued improvement year in year out. They have gone from selecting by plot to selecting by vine using GPS etc. The other lovely expression that I noted down during our tasting was that this wine was saved by two rains, making it ‘winemaking on a razor blade’! In order to underline just how dry it was prior to the September rain, the grapes that were set aside from the drought affected vines were so shrivelled that Jacques described them as, ‘like 2003 or ‘Cretan’ wine!’. Joking aside, this is one of the most remarkable wines that I have tasted from this property. 19.5+

Jancis Robinson

19 / 20

par Jancis Robinson le 21/04/2017

85% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc, 1% Cabernet Sauvignon. Sumptuous nose. Great lift. Real race and dancing stuff. Good structure and line. Nothing sweet or fleshy about this but lovely ripeness and nobility. Amazing persistence and elegance in claret mode.

Wine Enthusiast

97-99 / 100

par Roger Voss le 19/04/2017

Barrel Sample. A higher proportion of Merlot than usual in the blend has given this fine wine its sumptuous character. In contrast, it has a classically perfumed character and fine black-cherry fruit. It is structured, with a firm base of generous tannins. Beautifully balanced, it is obviously for the long haul.

Jamessuckling.com

98-99 / 100

par James Suckling le 05/04/2017

The balance and finesse to this wine are really beautiful with ultra-fine tannins and beautiful fruit. It's full and structured yet so long and intense. It's a wine that seduces you with every sip — already. Great selection here. Quite simply turbocharged at the end.